Prevalence of endometriosis in malignant epithelial ovary tumours

Objective: To determine the prevalence of ovarian endometriosis in malignant epithelial ovarian tumours. Study Design: A retrospective analysis of 160 malignant and 23 borderline ovarian tumours, during the period 1995-2001. Results: Fourteen (7.7%) of the tumours contained endometriosis. This affected 22% of the endometrioid and 10.8% of the mixed adenocarcinomas. The mean age of the ovarian endometriosis patients was 43 +/- 13 range 26-70 years. The incidence in borderline tumours 13% (3/23) was higher than that in ovarian cancer 6.9% (11/160) (P > 0.05). Eight (57%) of cases were classified as atypical and six (43%) as typical endometriosis. Nine cases were FIGO (International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics) stage 1 and 5 stage III. Conclusions: Both malignant and borderline ovarian tumours are associated with ovarian endometriosis. In addition, atypical endometriosis was found associated with endometrioid and mixed epithelial ovarian tumours. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.